M nijtt



(N6 Mo ul.)

"W. 'NUTT..

STOPPBR.

PaQ-t'ented June 7, 1898.

1NVENTOR 7." 77% WITNESSES Attorney UNITED S E PAT W L N or INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA];

STOPPER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 605,125, dated June 7, 1898.

Application filed January 14,1898. ,Serial a. 666,700. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.- I

Be it known that I, WILLIAM NU'r'r, a resi-l dent of Indianapolis, in the county of Marion and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Stoppers and I do hereby declare the followingto be a full, clear, and exact description :of the invn tion, such as will enable Others. skilled in'the art to which itappertains to make and'use the" same.

My invention relates to an improvement in' stoppers for bottles, 850., the objectoftheinvention being to produce a stopper which can be readily expanded after it shall havejbeen' inserted into the neck of the bottle and which" A represents a soft-rubber stopper having;

a flange 1 at its upper end to rest on the mouth ofthe bottle. The rubber stopper is also pro-1 vided with a socket 2 for the reception of my improved expanding device B. The expanding device B comprises a thimble 4, having a; peripheral flange 5 at its up er end to rest on] the top of the-stopper, and also having a se' ries of longitudinal slits 6 whereby to form spring-jaws 7. The upper portion of the in-i terior of the thimble is made cylindrical to form a socket 8, at the lower end of whichan annular shoulder 9 is formed. The-cylin drical portion 10 of a thumb-piece 11 is adapted to enter and turn freely within the socket 8, and is limited in its downward movement by engagement with the shoulder 9 at the lower end of said socket 8. The shank 10 of the thumb-piece is .made with a screw threaded socket 12, (for a purpose presently explained,) and at the lower end of'said screwthreaded socketa small annular flange 13 is formed andadaptedto-proje'ct into the opening formed by the annular. shoulder 9 in the thimble. From the annular shoulder 9 the interior of the thimble is made tapering, as at 14," t'ofthe' lower end thereof. Into the taperi ng.inlte'rior of the thimble a screw 15 is disposed and provided with a head 16, which may,' if;desired,- have a tapering wall, although .it is not essential that the head of the screw sho'uldbe thus made tapering. The screw 15 isadapted to pass through the opening inithe.thimbletmarked by the annular shoulder; 9 "and enter the screw-threaded socketin the shank of the thumb-piece. In orderto'prevent the screw 15 from turning, it is proyided with a small pin or projection 17,fadaptedto enter and move in one of the slits' Got the thimble.

From the construction and arrangements of parts above set forth it will be seen that when the thumb-piece is turned the screw will be made to gradually enter the screw-threaded socket in the shank thereof, and as the head of the screw moves up through the interiorlytapering portion of the thimble the springjaws, which compose the latter, will be ex- I panded and thus made to force the rubber of the stopper A outwardly and against the wall of the neck of the bottle.

:1: It isapparent that with my improvements the neck of a bottle can be easily and quickly closed very tightly, so as to prevent the entrance of air into the bottle and prevent the possibility of the contents of the bottle escapin g. It will also be seen that when it is desired to remove the stopper it is merely necessary to turn the thumb-piece, when the frictional contact of the rubber stopper with thelw all of the neck of the bottle will be immediately relieved and the easy withdrawal of the stopper will thus be permitted. My improvements are simple in con strum tion and effectual in all respects in the performance of their functions.

i Slight changes might be made in the details offconstruction of my invention without departing from the spirit thereof or limiting its scope, and hence Ido not wish to limit myself to the precise details herein setforth.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and'desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

having a socket therein, of an expanding device in said socket, said expanding device comprising a split thimble, a thumb-piece adapted to turn freely therein, and a screw adapted to enter the thimble and a socket in the thumb-piece, said screw having a head to engage the inner wall of the thimble and force the same outwardlyor permit it to contract according to the direction in which the thumb-piece is turned, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination with a flexible stopper having a socket therein, of an expanding device for said stopper, said expanding device comprising a slit thimble, having a portion of its interior made tapering, an internallyscrew-thrcaded thumb-piece adapted to enter said thimble, and a screw adapted to enter the tapering interior of the thimble and bear against the wall thereof, said screw being also adapted to enter the screw-threaded interior of the thumb-piece, whereby the turning of the thumb-piece will move the screw and cause the split thimble to be expanded or contracted, substantially as set forth.

The combination with a flexible stopper having a socket therein, of an expanding device adapted to enter said socket, said expanding device comprising a thimble having longitudinal slits, an annular shoulder within said thimble, the portion of the thimble below said shoulder being tapering internally, athumb-piecehavingascrew-threaded socket and adapted to loosely enter the upper end of the thimble and rest on said internal annular shoulder, a screw adapted to enter said screw-threaded socket in the thumb-piece, a head on said screw disposed within the tapering portion of the thimble and a pin or projection on said head of the screw and adapted to move in one of the longitudinal slots in the thimble whereby to prevent said screw from turning, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscrib ing witnesses.

VILLIAM NUTT.

Vi tnesses:

EUR'PON l3. BERRY, Gno. \V. Sonnnu. 

